Sunday, September 29, 2013

CASE OF THE BOOKCASE


We do not have a bookcase in our home. But we do own books. Very few, which are spread around the house. On the coffee table, end tables and night stands. Husband is more of magazine person and I often borrow books from library. So we never thought of investing in a bookcase.

Mr. Tweaks did have one bookcase when we were married. And it was his first piece of furniture he had bought, which I sold after couple of years. He was not very happy about it. That's a different story.

From where this below picture was clicked, is a couch. And from the couch, this wall looks too empty. Kind of a blank wall.
I could use a chair in the corner but did not want to crowd it. That's when the idea of a bookcase came up. Bookcase was not a necessity; so did not want to spend a lot on that. A bookcase, I could style with some books, some decor, couple of picture frames and some small storage boxes.

Something like these inspiration pictures. I always loved the idea of wallpaper or gift wrapper or paint an accent color for the bookcase backing.
Via
Via

Decorpad
Lonny

Martha Stewart
I remembered I had a bookcase in the garage. In this condition. It did not have a backing so it wobbles.
When I showed this to Mr. Tweaks, he said, "Its a gone case. Just invest in a new one". Gone case...then I really need to work on it.
Give it a second chance....everyone should get one.
I had to buy MDF board, cut to measurement and nail it to the back of the shelf. I went to Home Depot to pick the MDF board, and while there, I was talking to one of the employee. I gave him the measurement and asked him to help me find the board in that measurement so I do not waste the extras after cutting.
He said he was sure he had exact measurement which a previous customer had left after getting his board cut. And when he measured, it was enough for me. He had to cut 2 pieces of the board so it would fit my shelf.

When I took it to the cashier, he rang it for, guess how much.....$1. Because it was left over which they do not stock back.
And then, I got to work on it. One of the shelf was removable and one of it was fixed. I laid the shelf on the ground the front facing down.
I arranged the pieces of the board on the back of the shelf.
 
 Then using the finishing nails that was left from the Powder room project, I nailed the board to the shelf.
Once the board was all nailed, the shelf looked like this at the back, which made the it strong enough to stand on its own without wobbling.
And looked like this from the front. 
 I did mess up at couple of places. 
Which I covered up with caulk.


The shelf was a laminate, so I had to prime it.
I just primed the sides and top of the shelf on the outside and sides of the inside. I left the inside backing since I had plans to cover it with gift wrapper.

I painted the shelf in white, in semi-gloss finish. I had the paint left over from a previous project. After this step, I forgot to click the pictures. I am sorry about that.
I let it dry for couple days, and then brought it to the living room. I did not like it. At. All. It looked out of place. I did style it with books and decor stuff to see if it changed my decision. Still was not happy.
It went back to garage.
Do you think I should give it a third chance????
Will share with you all, what finally happened to it.

3 comments:

  1. Our home depot here doesnt cut wood for us :( Singapore is very DIY unfriendly.
    Why do you use a primer only if its a laminate?

    I recently varnished my dining table which was previously treated with waterproof cover i think. Now I have water marks all over!! did i manage to remove all the water proofing with my exuberant sanding???

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    Replies
    1. Madhu, I had to prime since it was a laminate. And I gave it a coat of white paint after the primer dried. I have not done any projects on plain wood. Did you try to varnish this way? Hope this would help to recover your table. http://www.wikihow.com/Varnish-Wood

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